Pinellas sheriff: Caregiver mistakes teen for intruder, shoots him

A 17-year-old boy was shot and wounded late Sunday after he slipped out of his house in Seminole without telling anyone, and then returned, leading one of his caregivers to presume he was an intruder.

Taylor Titus, of 14529 Anchorage Circle, was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.

He was shot by his caregiver, James Wolf, 55, the sheriff’s office said. Due to his criminal background, Wolf was arrested on a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Wolf is also a registered sexual offender.

Titus had left the house at about 9 p.m. without telling his caregivers, James and Nancy Wolf, the sheriff’s office said. He returned shortly before midnight, just as James Wolf was preparing to go to sleep after turning off the lights to the home, the sheriff’s office said.

Wolf heard a noise at the back of the home, grabbed his handgun and went to check, the sheriff’s office said. He noticed a subject near the back door and ordered him to freeze, but the subject began to walk toward Wolf, and Wolf fired a shot, hitting the presumed intruder. When the subject stumbled toward Wolf, he realized he had just shot Titus, the sheriff’s office said.

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